Wireless Charger

One of the primary attributes that I look for when shopping for just about any device is versatility. If I am spending my hard-earned cash, I want to get the most bang for the buck. So I am always happy to find a product that can fill multiple needs.

Though wireless charging has been available on a few Lumia smartphones for some time now, Freescale is rolling out a new fast wireless charging technology that will charge up your Qi- or Powermat-enabled tablets three times more quickly than before. The new technology works with both popular wireless charging standards and can deliver three times the power output that is present in today's devices, making it faster to charge high-powered devices like Windows tablets.

While portable chargers or power banks are ubiquitous among smartphone users now, there’s a new range of such devices which bring the advantage of wireless charging, a feature trend that is gaining popularity especially in Windows Phones in last 18 months.

These are essentially the portable power packs that you can carry around, but without the need for wires. When you want to charge your phone, you just lay it flat on the brick. While the Nokia Lumia 920, 928, and 1520 (non-AT&T models) can charge natively, the Lumia 720, 820, 925, and 1020 can use optional shells to enable the Qi feature.

Few months back, Nokia introduced DC-50, a $99 wireless portable charger that packs 2400 mAh battery. It was followed by the announcement of a similar product by Hong Kong-based Mugen Power. I’ve been using the Mugenizer N11 portable wireless charger since a few weeks, and it is one of the two chargers, the other being a Nokia DC-18, I carry with me when I head out.

Earlier we shared that Expansys and Amazon.com had the Nokia CR-200 wireless car charger for $109 and $95 respectively. Well... now we are finding out that MobileFun is offering the CR-200 for even less.

Listed under MobileFun's Hot Deals, the Nokia wireless charger with NFC support is only $75.99. Shipping will run you $2.99 making the total cost a steal of a deal.

Daily deal site PayDeals has the Nokia DT-910 wireless charging stand for $45, a 35% savings on its regular retail price of $69.00. PayDeals has the charging stand in both black and white and ships for free. This deal runs for another three and a half days or while supplies last.

Nokia Russia has published a video on its YouTube channel that runs through the manufacturing and installation of wireless charging units in partnered coffee shops. The company has entered into a partnership with the Red Espresso chain of coffee shops in Moscow to offer wireless charging stations for customers to charge their smartphones and other devices.

Ever wonder what all the Nokia wireless charging pad can work through? The obvious question would be "Can the wireless charger operate through a protective case?" but Windows Phone Central reader Nisse Tuta took things a bit further.

From a sock to a cooking pot, the wireless charger was put through the ringer of sorts. The Nokia Lumia 920 successfully made contact through every object except the metal cooking pot. The charging connection was even successful while holding the Lumia 920 a few inches above the charging pad.

I just wonder if Nisse had have put the Lumia 920 in the pot then placed the pot on the charger would it have worked. You can catch the full discussion on Nisse's wireless charging experiments here in the Windows Phone Central Forums.